User:Benjamin Dwyer

Benjamin Dwyer - Guitarist/Composer/Writer

Since his European debut playing Rodrigo's Concierto d'Aranquez with the Neubrandenburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Benjamin Dwyer has been regarded as one of Ireland's leading musicians. He has appeared as soloist with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland as well as the new music ensemble Vox21 and the world-renowned Vogler String Quartet. Dwyer performs regularly throughout Ireland and has given recitals in the UK, the United States, Germany, Austria, Finland, Canada, Spain and the Caribbean. As well as having a vast solo repertoire, Dwyer has explored the area of chamber music extensively from Schubert's Die Schöne Müllerin (complete) with tenor John Elwes to new works especially written for him by Ireland's leading contemporary composers. Benjamin Dwyer lives and works in Spain and Ireland. All his guitars are made by the leading Spanish luthier Joaquin Garcia. One of the leading figures from the younger generation of Irish composers, Benjamin Dwyer's music is performed regularly both nationally and internationally. A Ph.D. Graduate of Queens University of Belfast in composition, in recent years Dwyer has completed a number of important large-scale works including his Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra (Rajas, Sattva, Tamas), Scenes of Crow (an extensive work for chamber ensemble and electronics based on the Crow poems by Ted Hughes), and his major virtuosic work for guitar - Twelve Études. He has received commissions from the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland (Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra), Instituto Cervantes (Concerto for Guitar and String Orchestra and Al-Andalus), Canadian electric guitarist Tim Brady (Omeros II), German pianist Ortwin Stürmer (Apuntes), Irish music ensemble Vox21 (Scenes from Crow), the Rejoyce Festival Dublin (Afterjoyce I), RTÉ Lyric fm (Voces Críticas and Al-Andalus), and most recently, the Office of Public Works (OPW) for a new work to celebrate the 125th anniversary of St. Stephen's Green. Founder and Director of Ireland's leading contemporary music event Bank of Ireland Mostly Modern and new music ensemble VOX21, Dwyer is also one of the foremost activists in Ireland for contemporary music. He is a regular contributor to Irish national radio and television and his articles on criticism and music have been widely published. He was recently elected a member of Aosdána, the affiliation of creative artists established by The Arts Council to honour those artists whose work has made an outstanding contribution to the arts in Ireland.